Praha, Czech

June 1, 3:30 PM : This morning, everyone woke up early packed up bags and we checked out of the hostel at 7:15am. I put my suitcase in storage at the hostel and headed to the train station to say goodbye to everyone. I can't believe how hard it was to say goodbye when I've only just met (mostly) everyone 2 weeks ago! It's so awesome that we all became so close...I really do see everyone as family. That being said, I really struggled to not feel lonely the first couple hours after they left. I may or may not have cried for a couple hours in the hostel lobby... BUT I'm doing slightly better now. My bus to Prague left at noon and I'm currently watching the beautiful scenery of Czech Republic pass by as it rains. There are so many hills and trees!!!

I will get into Prague around 5PM and I'll go find my hostel. Once I get my bearings, and maybe a map or two, I will head out for some food! I'm looking forward to tonight and maybe a Czech beer!

 

8 PM:

Well...today was overwhelming to say the least. I got off the bus and freaked out because I couldn't remember the currency Czech uses. After stopping by the tourist shop, I got my Metro pass and headed to the hostel. After checking in, I wandered around the city some and saw the gorgeous architecture! If I hadn't been freaking out over being in a country where I knew no one, I may have enjoyed it a little more, but there's always tomorrow! Right as I was about to grab something to eat, it started storming so I decided to head home. I called the family and grabbed a sand which to eat in my room. I met a girl in the hostel who's from Germany and she's 19! Her boyfriend and she are traveling almost the same route I am through Europe. I also met a elderly couple from Minneapolis and a grandfather and grandson from LA...not too shabby for my first 5 hours in town! Off to bed before my big day of adventuring tomorrow!

June 2: I am not going to lie, I definitely moped around in bed until 10am. I headed off to one of the free walking tours...best decision ever! Before the tour, I grabbed a croissant for breakfast and some water, as it was to be a 3 hour walking tour. The tour was absolutely amazing. We started off by learning about Wenceslas and the different stages of communism that Czech Republic endured. During the Prague Spring, Jan Palach, a student at Charles University wanted to take a stand against the Soviet Union who had invaded Czech. There was resistance that was returned by Soviet tanks invading. There was a lull in the retaliation of the Czech people, until Jan Palach walked to the center of Wenceslas Square with a bucket. When he arrived to his desired location, he said that there would be one suicide every month until the demands (getting rid of censorship and the Soviet newspaper) were met. He dumped the bucket on himself and lit himself on fire, though he did not die until one week later. His friend did the same one month later and died immediately. They are heroes to the Czech people. One of our first sites was the Astronomical Clock which was built in 1410 (one of the oldest in the world and the oldest in operation!)

Next we headed to the Prague State Opera. Our guide told us that after Mozart didn't get the desired appreciation in his home country of Austria, he came to Prague. Hearing a boy singing his music on the street, he decided to give his work a try in Prague...making Prague the location of Don Giovanni's opening. 

Charles University was founded in 1348 and is the oldest university in Czech. It is a very prestigious university...according to our tour guide, it's used as quite the pick up line. Many famous people have taught here including Einstein!

The reasoning for the steeples not being of equal size is due to the right representing Adam and the left Eve. They were built this was as if Adam was protecting Eve...when the sun casts a shadow from Adam, it covers Eve as if embracing her to protect her.

The Old New Synagogue in Prague is the oldest in Europe that is currently active. It was built in 1270! When walking next to it, we were told to walk quietly, as the street is where many Jews were murdered there. We learned about the Golem of Prague, which is in the attic of the Synangogue. He was built as a sort of counsel for the Priest. The legend says that the priest wrote "emet" on the Golem's forehead which in Hebrew means truth. This Golem was to protect the Jewish people, and would be activated via a shem (a name of God) that was written on paper and inserted into the Golem's mouth. The only stipulation was that the priest was supposed to deactivate the Golem on the Sabbath. One week, the priest forgot and the Golem went crazy. He started killing people, so the priest wrote the word for death on his forehead and removed the shem causing the Golem to break apart. The Golem was then moved to the attic, where apparently the priest can still use him when needed.

The last stop on our tour was the Rudolfinum, which is where the Philharmonic Orchestra is housed, located at Jan Palach square.

After grabbing a muffin and smoothie, the Castle Tour was next on my itinerary...how beautiful!

We started off by going up to the Strahov Monestary where the monks first started brewing the beer.

We saw the church where Mozart played his work as well as the library where the monks had a cabinet of curriosities (though sadly I didn't have a chance to go in). Next to the church was a pillar. According to our tour guide, the pillars were an attempt to ward of sickness and plague, after killing women and Jews didn't work...shocker!

We walked out and saw an AMAZING view of the city.

These next two pictures, I can't remember what the building was....BUT every one of the blocks was hand chiseled to get the painted appearance. It would take hours for one block! Each one has small imperfections, making it truly unique!

City view from outside the castle...

Castle guards standing at the gate...

We learned that the facade of the building was designed by Queen Maria Theresa (I think?) in Neoclassic style. There was only one part of the castle untouched by the facade. This front archway (below) was designed by an Italian architect and the King (prior to Theresa's rule) had failed to pay the architect fairly, so the architect failed to spell one of the words properly as payback. I think the tour guide said it translated to "butt" instead, making it one of the first ass jokes.

The wells within the second courtyard had cages over top of them in order to protect the water from people trying to poison them. 

Next we went into the St. Virus Cathedral. The cathedral has a 16 ton bell that has never been rung. They installed it and then realized that it would harm the building...engineers were slacking! This is also where the Crown Jewels are stored (in a vault). The vault requires 7 keys simultaneously, which are in the possession of 7 different high ranking individuals. This cathedral is where Reinhard Heydrich (no. 3 in Nazi succession) tried the Crown Jewels...according to legend (curse of Crown Jewels), if anyone touches the jewels who isn't entitled to them, they will die. Not long after he wore the Crown Jewels, there were 3 soldiers in the resistance who attempted an assassination on Heydrich. After tracking his schedule for days, one of the men stood on the street corner where his car always drove (only with himself and driver, no guards) as a signal to the other two. As the car approached, he signaled and left the scene. The second man walked into the street and stood in front of the car causing it to slam on the breaks. Then the second man pulled a gun out of his trench coat and shot at Heydrich, BUT his gun jammed! Panicked, he threw it at the car's windshield causing it to break and ran away. Heydrich's driver started chasing the man and shooting at him, while the third man threw a hand grenade under the car. The blast went upwards through the seat into Heydrich's legs. Since car seats were made with horse hair, some of the hair got into his blood stream. He was able to walk for a while and then collapsed. It took him some days in the hospital before organ failure and eventually death due to poison from the horse hair. Back to the building...it took many years (1344- 1929) to complete the structure...it's even said that the structure isn't yet completed. As seen below, some of the circles are missing designs. 

As we made our way down through the the castle districts hills, we viewed the parliament building where Nazi soldiers inhabited during the war.

We walked past one of the oldest buildings in Prauge...

Followed by the first brothel in Prague. It started out as a school for girls formed by Queen Theresa, but after a while, the soldiers would "visit the girls at night" ending in many of them being pregnant.

 We got to see the small houses that were built for the guards within the wall so they did not have to leave too far from their post.

We walked above the Senate Gardens and the view there was spectacular!

That night a majority of us from the tour went on the Beer Tour...AKA learn the history of beer in the city and get to drink the 3 best brews!  It was so much fun!! At the first bar, we had to compete to pour our own beer. Every beer we got was a half liter...they definitely did their job.

The second bar was one that a local artist had drawn (some vulgar) comics all over the interior walls. Very fun to look at. We had a beer there and then tried some Czech liquor...very good!

The third bar, I had a mix between a light and a dark beer and then some goulash...the goulash was to die for!

We were going to continue the drinking, but as some of us had the Concentration Camp Tour in the morning, we called it a night.